Birdwatching

To many, birdwatching might seem like an activity adjacent to watching paint dry. Boring, unusual, and a waste of time. Over the past few weeks, though, whilst I’m far from a birdwatcher, I have spent a fair amount of time just sitting back on a desk, watching and listening to various birds go about their day. The sights and sounds in Thailand are vibrant and hard-to-miss. With a little spare time and a willingness to sit outside and do nothing for a bit, you naturally start to notice the birds more.

I can partially understand why some people get so invested; why so many people were huddled around a few trees, with collective millions poured into camera lenses, when I visited Liuhua Park in Guangzhou. Watching nature just existing around you, undisturbed, is fascinating and also an incredible piece of perspective. Observing birds fly around, perch in treetops, and call out in various ways reminds you that there are a lot of living things inhabiting this planet beyond us humans, and that they’re pretty cool.

Life on Earth is awesome, often in ways that go unnoticed by us for long periods of time. Looking up, or just keeping an ear out, for birds from time-to-time can feel quite soothing. It grounds you in nature and just allows your mind to drift someplace else, filled with curiosity.